A-level students rewarded up to £17,000 for exam success

Mark Thompson

The thousands of students picking up exam results on Thursday may be in for a hefty cash windfall, a new survey has revealed.

The Leeds Beckett University research found money, holidays, cars and laptops are amongst the top incentives being offered by parents - with amounts ranging widely from £5 to a substantial £17,000.

But the number of students being offered incentives this year has halved since 2014 (32% of males and 30% of females have been incentivised this year, whilst 66% of males / 58% of females were offered rewards last year).

The survey, commissioned by Leeds Beckett, reveals that A*- B grades are most likely to be incentivised, with £100 per A grade and £50 per B/C the national average.

Professor Paul Smith, Deputy Vice Chancellor at Leeds Beckett, said: “Whatever situation students find themselves in after getting their results, they are facing important decisions on their future.

“It’s important that they don’t panic as there are plenty of options open to them.”

Girls are being offered an average of £132 more than boys this year - a change from last year where males benefitted by £60 more than their female counterparts.

Londoners are the most likely to be offered incentives (46 %), while Yorkshire students are the least likely at 19%.*

Top five incentives offered this year:

1. Money (21.4%)

2. Meal (5.8%)

3. Laptop (5.4%)

4. Holiday (5%)

5. Car (4%)

Other survey findings:

- Over half (53%) of A-level students will tell their mum about their results first - with only 6% going to their dads.

- Students will tend to go to their teachers for advice rather than their mums when it comes to the next step in their education journey (24% v 16%).

- However, 33% said they hadn’t received any advice at all when it came to career options following college or sixth form.

- Half of students (53%) said they would be unable to sleep the night before getting their results because of nerves.

- Males (67%) are more confident in their impending A-level results than females (53%), but both are less positive than they were last year (72% cited that they were confident this year versus 84 per cent in 2014) perhaps because nearly 80% of students admit to being distracted by social media during revising for their exams this year.